This invention relates generally to a water filter system and, more particularly, to a self-cleaning water filtering system and method especially useful in a household, restaurant, office building, or the like having modern plumbing facilities.
Today, water supply systems are frequently contaminated with such elements such as dirt, rust, and other sediment, chlorine, Giardia Lambia cysts, etc. Many type filters have been proposed for cleaning the water, especially for making it suitable for drinking purposes. Most commonly used are in-line cartridge type filters, several of which are usually arranged in series for progressively finer filtration necessary to provide water suitable for drinking and cooking purposes. An average household may use about 200 gallons of water per day, and all that water passes through all the filters. As a result, these filters require frequent manual cleaning and replacement, e.g. every four to six weeks, and consequently are terribly inconvenient and expensive.
Most household systems are closed water systems and there are various zones of water usage requiring various degrees of filtration. For example, a first zone servicing toilet closets may use unfiltered water as received from the supply source. A second zone servicing laundry appliances or bathing facilities may need water filtered only for dirt, rust, and other sediment, e.g. 20 micron. A third zone servicing a kitchen and food washing outlet may need water which is filtered for finer dirt and sediment, e.g. 5 micron, and for odor and chlorine removal. A fourth zone which provides pure drinking and cooking water often needs filtration to 1 micron for the removal of fine sediment and Giardia Lambia cysts.
As mentioned, the conventional manner of passing all the water through a number of serially arranged filters is inconvenient and expensive. Thus, a need clearly exists for a water filtering system for a household which is not only capable of providing water of suitable quality at the various service zones, but also is conveniently and economically maintained over an extended period of time, e.g. one year or more.